In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Cops involved in police-related deaths of civilians shouldn’t be comparing notes with each other, according to the ethics advisor for the Vancouver police board.

Advisor H.A.D. Oliver suggested in a report to be received for information by the board today (June 17) that it is important to segregate police officers so they won’t come up with a “sanitized” version of such fatal incidents.

Oliver said that the importance of this procedure was recognized by retired B.C. Supreme Court judge William Davies, who conducted an inquiry into the death of Native man Frank Paul.

In his interim report, released in March, Davies recommended the creation of a civilian-based Independent Investigation Office with a mandate to probe “a wide variety of factual circumstances, including (but not limited to) a death in a police department jail cell, a death resulting from an officer’s use of force or a motor vehicle, or a death arising from some other form of police interaction with the deceased”.

As part of this recommendation, Davies proposed that “pending arrival of the IIO at the incident scene, the chief constable must ensure that the scene is secured and that officers involved in the incident are segregated from each other”.

Davies also stated in his report that “officers involved in the incident must not communicate with each other about the incident, except as authorized by the IIO”.

In his report, Oliver told the Vancouver police board that pending possible legislation related to Davies’s recommendations, there is a need to place “appropriate emphasis” on the “importance of segregation and non-communication” in the training of police officers.

In putting forward this proposal, Oliver also referenced the incident involving the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after a confrontation with four RCMP officers at the Vancouver International Airport.

The video evidence presented at the inquiry by retired B.C. Court of Appeal judge Thomas Braidwood contradicted written reports filed by the RCMP officers. It has been shown that Dziekanski was tasered multiple times, and that he fell to the ground after the first zap of the stun gun.

“The effectiveness of a police force in a democratic and civil society depends very largely on the respect in which its members are held by the public at large,” Oliver stated.

“That respect can be severely damaged and the reputation of the force largely destroyed in the eyes of the public where it is shown or reasonably suspected that a number of police witnesses have conferred after the incident but before reporting or testifying with a view to producing a sanitized version of the incident in question,” Oliver added.

We're on Twitter!

taser-Related Deaths = 1043+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to a Reuters investigation, Shock Tactics - Part 1 - The Toll, published on August 22, 2017, more than 150 autopsy reports have cited tasers as the cause or contributor to deaths across the U.S. That number may be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

Search This Blog

Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

EDITORIALS

NAVIGATING THIS SITE

This blog, which contains more than 3,000 posts, is broken down into 50 posts per page. When you reach the bottom of the last post on a page, click on "Older Posts" to see earlier posts, chronologically.

To return to the main page (and the NEWEST post) at any time, click here.

To see all posts on a specific topic, please see the "Categories of Interest" list below. To search for a specific name, word or term, use the "Search This Blog" feature at the top of this column, powered by Google.

My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

to contact us

If you wish to contact us, please leave a message ("private" or otherwise) on the guestbook (see below), including your e-mail address.

2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."